Final fantasy x-3: lost faith
by Tryingtowriteprostyle
Summary: Seventeen years after the defeat of Vegnagun, Yuna lives with Tidus as husband and wife. Their love has given rise to a son. Named Ranu, he is expected by all of Spira to become a living legend. The question is, when the time comes, when Spira faces a long forgotten threat, does Ranu have the strength to save anybody?
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Yuna! It's time!" A blonde haired man called down a hall.

A beautiful, brown haired woman came out of the room at the end of the hall. She was dressed in a blue, frilly outfit with brown boots. Her hair was also brown and her eyes had heterochromia. One eye was green, while the other was blue. The woman hurried up the hall to the man.

"You ready?" He asked.

"I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Let's do this."

"Righto. By the way, that costume looks great on you."

"Thank you, honey. Your outfit looks pretty good too."

The blonde haired man was dressed in a yellow, zipped up shirt with a white hood. He had black pants with chains hanging off the sides. His shoes were back and yellow, with zippers running down their middles. All in all, he greatly resembled a rock and roll band member.

"You think so? I just sort of cobbled it together."

"It looks great, Tidus. Now, do you have your guitar?"

"Of course. And get this, their letting me use a hover board for the show. I hope I don't fall off. I really don't feel like going to the medic today."

"I'm sure you'll be fine. You're very acrobatic and you have great balance. Remember when you and the others came to rescue me from Seymour at Bevelle?"

"Yeah, although that's one asshole I could do without thinking about ever again."

"Well, even so, I remember it well too. And looking back on some of the smaller details of it, I remember you zipping down on the wires from Uncle Cid's air ship. Everyone else did too, but you were moving far faster and you even jumped and flipped across a few of the wires to dodge gunfire. And you never lost your footing once. If you can pull that off, I'm sure that you can handle a hover board. And, even if you do fall for some strange reason, don't worry about a medic. I'll always be there to treat your injuries."

Tidus took Yuna's hands in his own. The golden bands they wore on their left ring fingers clinked quietly when they touched.

"Thanks, Yuna. You always know how to make me feel good."

Yuna pulled her hands away and then playfully flicked Tidus on the nose.

"Of course I do. I'm your wife. It's my job."

Tidus smiled and nodded.

"Well, come on. This show ain't gonna perform itself."

"Right behind you. By the way, is Ranu in the audience?"

"Yep. Wakka, Lulu and Vidina are keeping an eye on him. It's a funny thing that we need three people to keep an eye on our son."

"And it still doesn't feel like enough, I know. He gets that from your side of the family, you know?"

"Knowing my family, yeah, I'll agree with that. Okay, enough chit chat. Let's go give the people what they want."

"Lead the way."

Tidus and Yuna made their way to their appropriate positions. The lights lit up the stadium and a young woman dressed in a green and white dress with a bright green hat walked out to the center of the stage. She held a microphone up to her mouth.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen. My name is Shelinda and I'd like to welcome you to the fifth annual orphans benefit concert here in Luca stadium. As always, tonight is about raising funds for the unfortunate children of Spira who have lost their parents to various tragedies. From fiend attacks to natural phenomena like quakes, poor young souls have had their loving mothers and fathers ripped from them. Tonight, we unite to show them that they aren't alone. Tonight we show that Spira cares!"

There was a roar of applause.

"Now, we'll be taking donations throughout the night. And speaking of donations, I was informed that the Spiran Coalition, led by governors Baralai, Nooj and Gippal, has donated a unbelievable sum of twenty million gil!"

The crowd roared and began chanting.

"Spira, Spira, Spira." The chant, which was now nigh on customary when applauding the coalition's actions.

"Unfortunately, the governors couldn't make it tonight. We do, however, have several celebrities with us. With us tonight in the audience are four very special guests. First, please welcome Sir Wakka."

A spot line shined down upon Wakka and a camera machina came up to him, causing him to wave enthusiastically to the crowd.

"Sitting next to him is his wife, Miss Lulu."

Lulu stood up and waved politely to the crowd.

"Of course, they are two of the guardians who defended our only living high summoner with their very lives so she could bring a permanent end to Sin. Despite not even having the backing of Yevon and having to fight the corrupt Maestor Seymour, they bravely pushed forward to victory. I believe we all owe them a big thank you, don't you?"

The crowd roared the words thank you, which made Wakka scratch his head sheepishly and Lulu slightly blush.

"Now, our third celebrity is yet another member of this family. The up-in-coming ace of the Besaid Aurochs and major contributor to their spectacular second place finish in last year's blitzball season, please give a warm welcome to Vidina."

Vidina smiled into the camera as came in for a close up. He was wearing the typical Aurochs uniform, with the only modification being black bracers on his wrists. He held the blitzball he had with him constantly high into the air.

"Man, you can really see it on that big screen." Wakka said to Lulu quietly, while looking a huge sphere screen in the heart of Luca stadium.

"You mean how much Vidina resembles Chappu? Yes, I see it too. It's not identical. His nose is a little different and he definitely has your eyes. But, the family resemblance is strong."

"And last, but certainly not least, we have a legend to be. Please give your warmest to the most famous son in all of Spira, the son of Lady Yuna and Lord Tidus, Sir Ranu!"

The camera shot over to the young man sitting next to Vidina. The young man waved, but made no effort to stand up. He was wearing a blue shirt and a red, hooded jacket with black pants bearing the symbol of both the legendary Blitzball team, the Zanarkand Abes, and his family on the right leg. His shoes were red and black. His hair was blonde and spikey, slightly resembling his maternal grandmother's. His eyes were blue, but had spiraling pupils, an inheritance from his mother's al-bhed half.

"Why'd she have to call me sir? I haven't done anything to deserve a title. And 'legend to be'? Geez, Shelinda, don't make me up to be some kind conquering hero." Ranu thought.

"And now, with all the non-performing celebrity introductions out of the way, allow me to introduce our performing celebrities. First, he's the son of Sir Jecht and husband to our high summoner. Please welcome tonight's lead guitarist, Lord Tidus!"

Tidus rocketed up from the depths of the stadium on his hover board. He gave quick solo before flying off to his starter position for the actual concert.

"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for! Here's a woman who needs no introduction. The slayer of Sin and destroyer of Vegnagun, all of Spira get on your feet and welcome High Summoner Yuna!"

Yuna strolled onto the stage a roar that shook the stands. Ranu held his hands over his ears, but still tried to support his mother.

"Break a leg, mom!" Ranu shouted as loud as he could.

Soon after the crowd finally quieted down, Tidus began to strum his guitar and Yuna began to sing. It was a number loved by all of Spira, though no one except Yuna's inner circle knew that the song had been originally sung by a gang leader named Leblanc who was disguised as Yuna. Still though, it was a catchy song that men, women and children alike could enjoy. Its title was real emotion. While Wakka tapped his foot, Lulu patted her legs and Vidina swayed to the beat, Ranu was distracted. The overall loudness of concert drowned out a woman's cry for help. But, Ranu could see her. She was seated in the row of seats directly below the balcony Ranu was currently in. A thug was trying to steal her purse and every else was too focused on the concert to hear or notice her. Ranu knew he was the only one that knew what was going on. So, without a second thought, Ranu went into action and jumped over the railing of the balcony.

Ranu landed five feet from the scene of the crime, but by the time he'd stood up from his landing, the crook had taken off running. Ranu gave chase, pushing past the crowd in his way.

"Excuse me, pardon me. Trying to stop a criminal here."

Now the crowd began to take notice. Some tried to grab ahold of the crook, but to no avail.

"Oh now they notice. Just took a 'celebrity' getting involved." Ranu thought to himself as picked up the pace.

It was now that Ranu could hear a familiar flittering noise coming from behind him. When he looked over his shoulder, he could see a camera machina following closely behind him. He looked over to the screen to see the chase being shown to everyone. He was positive that, while his mom might not see it due to the big screen being positioned high above the stage, his father certainly would.

"Damn, I am gonna get such an earful. Oh well, more important things first."

Ranu slid into his fastest running speed and quickly caught up to the crook. He jumped up and slammed his fist into the back of the man's head, knocking him to the floor.

"Show's over for you, buddy. Now give back the nice lady's bag."

"Actually, we have other ideas." Ranu heard.

Ranu looked up to see four more men starting to encircle him.

"Oh really? And what would those other ideas be?"

"We walk out of here with the bag and all its gil and we don't have to rough up Lady Yuna's son in public like this." The obvious leader of the crooks said.

Ranu smirked and then laughed loudly.

"What's so funny?" the lead crook asked.

"Well, it sounded like you thought that the five…" Ranu looked down at the crook he had been chasing. He was still on the floor and obviously out cold. "Make that the four of you could beat me up."

"Of course we can. You're Lady Yuna's son. You're practically the prince of Spira. You live a life of ease, so you must be as soft as the fresh fallen snow on Mt. Gagazet."

"Mr. Ugly, you have no idea how wrong you are. I believe an example is in order. So then, shall we?"

"Heh, your funeral son. Get him guys."

The men attacked Ranu. The first came right for his head with a right hook. Ranu blocked the attack and then spun the man's arm around. He then planted his foot into the man's back, kicking him to the floor. Another man came at Ranu from behind, ready to cold cock the young man in the back of the head. However, Ranu anticipated this and, spinning on his left heel, Ranu slammed his right leg into the man's stomach. He then punched the man in the head twice, left first, right second. He then jumped up and planted his foot into the man's stomach. With this foe down, he turned his attention to the third man. Ranu blocked several punches from him, before hitting him hard with a blitzball inspired shoulder ram. He then grabbed the man by the collar and threw him over his shoulder. Without giving the man time to get up, Ranu brought his right leg up and performed a powerful axe kick to the man's ribs. Finally, Ranu turned to the leader. The leader quickly revealed a small talent for magic. He casted a diminutive fire spell at Ranu, which Ranu was able to block with his shoulder without damage due to its weak power. Ranu then rushed in, elbowed the man in the chest, hammered him in the face with a flurry of punches and then turned around. Ranu leaped into the air and performed his father's signature blitzball kick as his finishing attack. His foot caught the top of the man's head and slammed him face first into the floor, knocking him out cold. It was at this time that the stadium security finally arrived.

"Ah, hello, gentlemen. Do me a favor and clean up the mess, please? I've got a delivery to make." Ranu said, scooping the bag that had started it all off the floor.

"O-of course, Sir Ranu. Thank you for your assistance." One of the security men said.

"No problem. Oh, and, uh, be careful with them, okay? They talk big but they all have a glass, well, everything. I didn't even really hit them at full strength and look them. Just be careful not to break any bones while carrying them away. Now then, if you'll excuse me."

Ranu hurried through the crowd and back to the woman.

"Here we are, ma'am. I believe this belongs to you."

"Oh thank you so much, Sir Ranu. Your parents must be proud of you."

"Yeah, heh, we'll see about that. Anyway, let me apologize for all the trouble. Uh, please, try to enjoy the rest of the concert."

"I will. And thank you again."

Ranu then hurried back to where Wakka and family were. Ranu could see Lulu staring daggers at him.

"What? Nobody else was doing anything, aunt Lu."

Lulu simply shook her head and sat down.

"It's not that she's upset that you helped that woman. She expects that out of you. She's upset about the fact that you didn't shoe away that machina that followed you. You could've done that without having every moment recorded. Lu taught you thunder magic and thunder magic blows up any machina, remember?" Wakka asked.

"Oh, yeah. She's upset that I forgot about her teachings. Uh, guess I was caught up in the moment and in a hurry and I just sort of forgot about the machina following me. So, uh, everybody saw that."

"Yeah, everybody saw you lay a beating on those crooks. Everybody." Wakka said, looking toward the stage.

Ranu could see his father, still on his hover board and positioned near the stage, starring right at him. Ranu waved nervously and sat down next to Vidina.

"You are dead. You know that, ya?" Vidina asked.

"What else is new?"


	2. Chapter 2

"How could you be so careless?" Tidus half yelled.

With the concert now over, Ranu was on the receiving end of a serious scolding from his father. His mother stood by with a stern look, but otherwise let Tidus handle the situation.

"That lady needed help, dad. And no one else could hear her over the music. I just happened to notice what was going on out of the corner of my eye. I knew I had to do something, or otherwise the crooks would get away. And I couldn't let that happen. I mean, seriously, how could I? Using the noise and hustle of a concert meant to benefit orphans to cover up their pickpocketing and bag snatching, I couldn't let them get away from it."

"It's all well and good to use your abilities to help folks out, Ranu. But to do it while a camera machina is on you…were you trying to get attention? "

"No, I just didn't have time to wave that blasted thing off. Truth be told, I was hoping I could lose it in the crowd while I went on after that crook."

"You should know by now that it wouldn't give up. It would have followed you to the ends of Spira, as long as you were doing something interesting. You're famous, remember?"

"And whose fault is that?" Ranu snipped, suddenly angered.

"What?"

"I never asked to be famous. I was just born. I'm only famous because you and mom are famous. The two most famous people in Spira, in fact. You two are why everyone thinks so highly of me, when I haven't done anything to deserve it. Everyone treats me like I've already saved the world, even when all I do most of the time is laze around at the beach on Besaid. And frankly, I'm sick of it. I'm just not one of those people who likes having everything handed to him. Everybody else has to earn what they get, so I should too. It's only fair. But, no. Everyone wants to give me every last thing. And I know why. It's to earn either mom's favor, or yours, dad. After all, mom's high summoner and you're her lord Zaon. So, even though the age of summoners is passed, people still want the favor of the high summoner and her spouse. So, I guess they figure that if they make me happy, it'll make you two happy and that'll grant them a blessing. Now, does anybody see the problem in that?" Ranu asked, looking in Wakka and family's direction.

They didn't answer. They couldn't. Because they all realized what Ranu was getting at.

"I didn't think so. The problem is that all those gifts aren't really for me. In the end, they're more or less for my parents. The problem is that my parents are my whole identity! The problem is that no one cares about who Ranu is. They just care about what I am! Can anyone name one person outside my family who knows a blasted thing about me? ….No one? I thought so. That's my whole problem. No one knows me, knows what I can do or what I care about, and yet they treat me like I'm stinking royalty! And to make matters worse, whenever I try to do something to help folks out, to actually earn the admiration I get for a change, I get my head bitten off by my parents if I make the tiniest mistake. And it really bites when you realize that both of them know what it's like to have famous parents and to have a lot expected of you. And still, they don't show an ounce of mercy. Even when they would've likely done everything I did the exact same way! So I wonder, is scolding me just a way to save face for when I, Spira's most famous son, mess up? Well, is it?" Ranu shouted, staring at his parents intensely.

"Ranu…." Yuna said softly, while her hand rose up to her heart.

Yuna walked over to Ranu and embraced her son in a tight hug. She placed one hand on his head and held him close to her.

"You're right, my dear. We should show mercy. And I think, starting now, we should always remember to do so. That said, let me clear something up. We don't scold you to save face. We do it out of parental instinct. It's what parents are meant to do and have always done as they try to guide their children through life. We do it because we want what's best for you. Even if you don't like what we have to say, remember that we do it because we love you. But even so, we should be a little less harsh. So, for being too hard on you, allow me to apologize. And let me say that I'm proud of you. I'm sure your father is too." Yuna said, turning away from Ranu and gesturing towards Tidus.

"Yeah, I am. And I also wish you would've brought this up sooner. I always thought you handled being a famous kid so well. I thought you liked it. I didn't know that it actually bothered you so much. I wish you'd said something sooner, instead of waiting for it to bubble over like it did just now. Ranu, buddy, you have to understand. We're your parents. We love you and if something is bothering you, we wanna hear about it. So don't keep all of this bottled up anymore, okay?"

"Okay. So, are we good?"

"Yeah, no punishment. You actually did good today, kid." Tidus said with a broad smile.

Ranu smiled back and then said 'So, now that you know how I feel, maybe we can talk about how I can go about earning the people's admiration. I was thinking that you could let me go out and try to become a real, professional fiend slayer."

Yuna turned back to Ranu and locked eyes with him.

"Out of the question." She said.

"Wait, what? After all that, you just shoot me down? Come on, mom!"

"I agree with her." Tidus said.

"Not you too, dad."

"What can I say? We may understand your desire to stand as your own man, but we're still your parents. And parental instinct says to keep your kid out of harm's way."

"Ugh! Come on!"

"We'll talk more about it later. For now, we need to get to the docks. The Celsius should be here to pick us up any moment now." Yuna said, walking away.

"Man, sometimes I feel like I'd get more done if just I just sat still and banged my head against the wall." Ranu said with a shrug.

"Heh heh, I told you, Lu. I told you Yuna would be the overprotective type." Wakka laughed.

"She is very 'nurturing'." Lulu said, making a small joke.

"Actually, the word you're looking for is 'smothering', aunt Lu!" Ranu yelled, over hearing Lulu.

"Come on, everyone. We don't want to keep brother and the others waiting." Yuna called.

Everyone picked up their feet and hurried to catch up with Yuna.

"Hey, mom." Ranu said as he ran up to his mother's side.

"Hmm?"

"Are Rikku and Meja going to be on the Celsius?"

"No, they won't. Sorry, dear. I know you'd really like to see your cousins, but Brother told me that Rikku and Meja are on Bikanel looking for machina parts to help maintain the new Home."

"Oh, well, okay. I understand how important that is. After what happened to the last one, I understand doing whatever it takes to keep this one in tip top shape. Come to think of it, they just completed it about two years ago, right? The project took fifteen years to complete if I remember right."

"That's right."

"Hey, didn't Rikku pick Meja up during the first year of the project?" Wakka called from his position two feet behind Yuna.

"That's right. You see, Meja's birth parents were attacked by fiends while looking for parts. Rikku was with them and managed to fight off the fiends using the powers of the garment grid. Unfortunately, however, she couldn't save them. Meja's mother died in Rikku's arms. The poor woman begged Rikku to look after her son before she died. She pleaded with her to make sure that, no matter what happened, her son lived a full life. Of course, Rikku promised to look after him. That led to Rikku officially adopting him and finding out that they had yet to give the month old infant a name. Remembering the woman's words and wanting to pay a small tribute to her, Rikku named the baby Meja, which means live in al-bhed. And that's how Rikku became a mother."

"Heck of a thing for Rikku to do, ya? I mean, she's never even baby-sited before and she goes and adopts a kid."

"Rikku has always been impulsive but quick to learn what she needs to do. And she definitely learned quickly. She learned so fast that, as far as I can remember, she didn't make any more than usual new parent mistakes."

"Ya, I guess that is fairly impressive. I gotta hand it to that girl. She's done really right by that boy. Ya, other than his birth mother, I don't think he could've gotten a better mom."

"Agreed. Now, let's hurry. I can see the Celsius in the distance.

Several days later, Ranu snuck out of his family's tent. He was carrying a flametongue, a sword given to him by an admirer of Yuna's a few years ago. While originally resenting the gift, he grew to like it when he realized that he could help deal with a strange phenomenon with it. Around the time of his birth, pyreflies began to be seen in increasing numbers all over Spira. Naturally, this meant a large spike in the number of fiends all over Spira, with Besaid being no different. As a result, Tidus, Yuna, Wakka, Lulu and Gatta would periodically go out to battle the influx of fiends on the road between Besaid village and the beach. Ranu saw this as a chance to earn his keep and to find a use for the flametongue. So, on several occasions, he had snuck out to practice with his sword. After a while, he figured that he had become proficient enough to go slay some fiends himself. So, he traversed the road and did, in fact, lay many fiends to rest. Coyotes, flans, sahagin and purpurea all fell to Ranu's sword or magic. However, things did not continue to go swimmingly the whole day. Everything changed when a garuda appeared. Ranu had heard how strong garudas were, but the success he had been having had swelled his pride. Believing he could defeat it, he rushed to attack. By the time his distressed parents and Wakka had found him, Ranu was barely keeping the beast at bay. The combined efforts of Wakka and his parents slayed the beast quickly enough and then Yuna actually screamed at Ranu. She yelled at the top of her lungs about how foolish what he had done was and wished that she could slap the person who gave him the sword to begin with. Once Yuna had finished her maternal tirade, Ranu quickly thought up an excuse to be able to keep his sword. Ranu explained that while he was sorry for worrying everyone so much, he wanted to keep the blade for self-defense against any possible fiend attacks. Picking and choosing his words carefully, Ranu eventually warmed his parents to the idea and they let him keep it on the condition that he never try to go fiend hunting again. Ranu had agreed to this, but had secretly been killing some fiends here and there ever since to feel like he was contributing something to his hometown. And this was his intent for today.

"And just where do you think you're going, young man?" Ranu heard from behind him.

Ranu turned on his heel to find his mother right behind him. Yuna furrowed her brow as she waited for her son's response.

"Well?" She pressured.

"I was just, uh, going to go practice a bit with my sword. You know, take on some of the weak fiends that show up near the village. I wasn't going to go farther than the monument on the hillside."

"Uh-huh." Yuna said while putting her hand on her hip.

"It's true, mom. I swear it's true."

"Now why don't I believe you?"

"'Sigh' Mom, please. You remember what I told you the other day at Luca. I wanna do something to help people. Everybody looks at me like I'm some conquering hero and I never get to prove whether or not I'm worthy of such praise. The least I can do to prove what I'm worth is keeping my home village safe."

"Hmm, well, the fiends near the village are fairly weak. And you would be doing some good for the village…."

"So?"

"Alright. You can go. But you have to take Vidina with you. Wakka mentioned wanting him to toughen up a bit. Playing blitzball makes you physically adept, but it doesn't necessarily mean you're ready to fight fiends. And Wakka knows fiends can pounce on you as soon as you leave the village and that it's a pretty good walk from here to the closest landing zone for the airship. And, as we all know, it's a fairly long walk to the beach if you have to go to Luca by boat. So, Wakka wants Vidina to get some combat experience in case something happens. So, if you simply must go, take Vidina with you."

"Yes, ma'am. I'll go scrounge him up right now….Uh, hey mom, do you hear a beeping sound?" Ranu asked as the sound reached his ears.

"Yes, I do. I think it's coming from our tent. It must be Rikku contacting me on the comsphere. Hmm, want to put fiend hunting on hold for a second and talk to your cousin?"

"Sure."

Yuna and Ranu re-entered the tent and removed the comsphere from its usual spot on the shelf.

"Hey, Rikku." Yuna said.

"Yunie! Glad I caught you. You'll never guess who just contacted me."

"Who?"

"Baralai."

"Really? What did he want?"

"He didn't say too much. He just said that he needed us to help the coalition out with something. He said they'd discovered something and they wanted us to help. I asked him how we could help and he said something about our pasts as 'discoverers of ancient secrets' being of great help. And he said that we would probably need all the help we can get, so he even recommended bringing Tidus, Wakka and Lulu along."

"Hmm, that's strange."

"I know. But, I could tell from talking to him that this is on the up and up. He doesn't mean us any ill will and I don't think he's been possessed again. So, whatever they've found must be huge if they're asking all of this from us."

"Hmm, well, it couldn't hurt to look into it. So, okay, let's go."

"I thought you'd say that, Yunie. The Celsius is on the way now. Be sure to have everybody ready."

"Roger that."

"By the way, I'm bringing Meja along. He can keep Ranu and Vidina company while we go see what Baralai wants."

"Great. Ranu's actually right next to me. He's got a big grin on his face right now. He's been dying to see his cousin."

"Well, he gets his wish. Anyway, I'll see you soon."

"Okay. See you. Okay, Ranu, help me find everybody."

"Yes, ma'am."

Ranu hurried around until he'd found everybody, including Vidina. They gathered at the usual landing zone and did not have to wait long. The Celsius soon arrived and Rikku came dashing down the boarding ramp, with Meja in tow. Meja was roughly the same height as Rikku, with blonde spikey hair, wearing a black jacket over top of a yellow shirt with yellow and black striped pants and similar colored shoes. Rikku quickly hugged everybody and kissed Ranu's cheek.

"Nice to see everybody. Glad to see everyone's doing well. Now, I hate to rush, but we gotta book it."

"Right, let's get going, Rikku!" Ranu shouted while making a mad dash toward the ramp.

"Hold it right there, young man." Yuna called.

Ranu stopped in mid stride, turned on his heel and faced his mother.

"What is it, mom? We gotta get going. A Governor is calling for us."

"No, he's calling for us." Yuna said, gesturing to Wakka, Lulu and Tidus.

"You are staying here with Vidina and Meja."

"You have got to be kidding me! This is why I had that big grin on my face earlier. This is a prime opportunity for me to help out Spira!"

"I don't care, Ranu. I feel something ominous about this. Truth be told, I'd rather go by myself. But, Baralai called for all of us. But, while I can't prevent the others from going since they were called, I can keep you out of harm's way. Now, get back here."

Ranu complied and sulked back to the village.

"We'll be back as soon as possible. Maybe you can show your little airship off while we're gone." Rikku said to Meja.

"Got it, mom. Stay safe."

"I promise. Well, later. I love you." Rikku said, kissing her adopted son's cheek.

"Love you too, mom."

Vidina and Meja waved goodbye to their parents and watched the ship take off.

"Think we should go check on Ranu?" Meja asked.

"Yeah. He tends to get into trouble when he's all sulky like this. Come on."

Meja and Vidina quickly found Ranu beating his fist against one the posts that held up the entrance to his family's tent.

"Damn it! First mom says she understands how I feel, then pulls this when a prime chance shows up. It's so damn frustrating!"

"You know she just wants to protect you, brudda." Vidina said.

"I know but that doesn't help my frustration."

"Well, maybe we could take my airship for a joyride around the island to let off some steam. I've got the trigger to call it right here on my wrist. I can call it and it'll be here in a just a few minutes. We think it was used as an escape ship or sort of helper vessel for a large ship way back when. It's really cool, Ranu. You'll like it."

"Well, I guess that could work."

Just then, Ranu heard a beeping.

"The comsphere again? Come on, maybe they changed their minds."

Ranu checked the comsphere. No sooner had he turned it on than a girl's a voice began shouting over it.

"Alert, alret! This is Taki from Kilika port! Please respond."

"Taki?"

Taki was the daughter of Donna and Barthello and lived in Kilika.

"Taki, it's Ranu. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, I can hear. Good to hear to hear your voice. Are your parents around?"

"No, their away on business. What's going on?"

"We've got a ton of fiends. They're pouring out of the woods. The coalition's forces are doing their best but we need more help to stem the tide."

"We should call the Celsius!" Vidina said.

"No, we call Meja's ship." Ranu said.

"Ranu, you aren't thinking what I think you're thinking, are ya, brudda?"

"Yeah, brudda, I am. We're going there. We're closer than the Celsius. Besides, this is a prime chance for me to help my fellow Spirans. And mom said that uncle Wakka mentioned wanting you to toughen up a bit. So, you're coming too. And no, you can't talk your way out of it, so go get some gear."

"Oh, man, this is not gonna end well." Vidina complained, but went to do as Ranu said.

"Meja, call your ship."

"Already did. And I'm backing you up in the fight too. I got some arm mounted machina weapons on the ship that I put together and I've dying to try them out."

"Knew I could count on you, cousin. Alright, Taki, listen. Our parents are too far out to do any good. So, we're coming instead."

"Got it. We'll hold out as long as we can. Please, hurry, guys."


End file.
